No plastic in the stomach or intestine of the sperm whale

Spern whale.

Collecting stomach of the sperm whale.

The sperm whale that died off the coast of Petten, North Holland at the end of June, had no plastic in its gastrointestinal tract. That was the conclusion from researchers from Bureau Waardenburg. During the dissection, inflammation in both lungs was discovered by a team from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University.

The research team from Bureau Waardenburg and Wageningen Marine Research, in collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, looked into the stomach and intestinal contents of the sperm whale as part of on-going research into diet and plastics. The stomach of the sperm whale turned out to be completely empty. In addition to the fact that no micro (1mm - 5mm) or macro (> 5mm) plastics were found, there were also no prey remains. The intestine was for the most part empty and no micro or macro plastics were found here either. Remains of prey were mainly found in the last part of the intestine. These are currently being further studied with the aim of determining to species.